The game has opened up now and Inter storm forward on the counter. Sneijder serves Eto'o who plays to Milito, but Britos intercepts with a diving header and Viviano gathers.

43' /

The Nerazzurri come back at Bologna and Sneijder has a low effort saved by Viviano.

41' /

Bologna hit us on the break. Mudingayi sweeps wide to Di Vaio and the Rossoblu captain crosses. The ball falls to Gimenez who chests down and blazes over.

40' /

Sneijder lashes in a corner from the left flag. Lucio connects at the back post but Ekdal clears.

37' /

Bologna attack down their right. It comes to nothing as Chivu defuses a Garics-Di Vaio one-two.

37' /

Esposito for a foul on Sneijder.

34' /

McDonald Mariga hits a low diagonal shot wide of the far post.

30' /

Cambiasso latches on to Mudingayi's loose clearance from Sneijder's right-wing corner and volleys over the bar from 20 yards.

28' /

Sneijder for a foul from behind on Casarini.

26' /

Lucio beats Gimenez to a Mudingayi pass into the box and coolly sees the ball over for an Inter goal kick.

23' /

Sneijder wins a duel with Rubin on the Inter left and whips in a cross. Portanova intercepts Milito in the six-yard box.

22' /

Corner to Inter as Mariga's effort from distance takes a strong deflection.

20' /

Garics has a dig from a tight angle on the right. Its spins off Chivu and goes behind. Portanova steals in at the near post from the resulting corner, taken by Casarini, and heads on target. Julio Cesar blocks.

15' /

Garics volleys wide as Bologna go close from a corner.

14' /

Lucio intercepts Casarini's ball for Di Vaio and it falls to Gimenez, who lobs over from the edge of the area with Julio Cesar well off his line. Bad miss.

13' /

Pandev turns Rubin on his way into the box from the right flank and looks for the corner, but the last touch is his and it's a Bologna goal kick.

7' /

Milito collects Eto'o's ball down the Inter left but sees his shot blocked by the Rossoblu defence.

5' /

Mariga makes a good sliding tackle on Gimenez as Bologna look for openings down their left.

1' /

Our defence of the Serie A title starts here at the Stadio Dall'Ara in Bologna. Rafa Benitez reverts to the 4-2-3-1 formation that beat Roma in the Italian Super Cup and there are a few changes from Monte Carlo. McDonald Mariga gets the nod ahead of Dejan Stankovic alongside Esteban Cambiasso in midfield, while Goran Pandev returns to the starting lineup after warming the bench against Atletico last Friday. Javier Zanetti slots in at right-back in place of the injured Maicon.

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BOLOGNA - Rossoblu goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano celebrated his call-up to the Italian national team with a polished performance to keep Inter at bay in Serie A's first ever Monday night fixture.

Julio Cesar was a spectator for most of the second half at the Stadio Dall'Ara as the Nerazzurri did everything but score - Viviano making a string of fine saves to ensure Inter opened their defence of the Scudetto with a point.

Bologna gave the Italian champions a run for their money in the first half but it was a different story after the restart as Rafa Benitez's men stepped up a gear.

Viviano saved Pandev's diving header and then parried away Sneijder's curling effort after Eto'o sent a couple of low shots wide. The Bologna shotstopper surpassed himself with an exceptional one-handed save from a Sneijder free kick and showed his quick reflexes again when he palmed Eto'o's close-range volley on to the bar.

He almost ruined his performance two minutes from time when another Sneijder shot proved too hot to handle, but smothered the ball to deny the onrushing Cambiasso.

Bologna survived a further scare deep in injury time when Sneijder's long-range free kick took a vicious deflection off Portanova.